Month: October 2017

Mariota’s absence was felt in a 16-10 loss the following week in a very winnable game at Miami. The quarterback is hoping to return to action this Monday night, though even if he does his mobility might be hampered by his injury. Tennessee is just 9-23 SU in its last 32 home games.

Monday night’s total is set at 49 points. The OVER is 6-1 in Tennessee’s last seven games played in October per the OddsShark NFL Database.

Earlier this week, Bowman said he would play if he could get caught up on the Raiders’ schemes and terminology.

“Hey, I’m going to show you something,” Bowman said Monday night.

There have been 38 quarterbacks to start 10 or more seasons since the merger. Brees has the seventh-worst average defense over that period, and the worst of any active quarterback. Here are the quarterbacks with the 10 worst defenses, their average standardized score, and what that would translate to in terms of a 2016 defense:

The Raiders have had a huge need for a veteran presence in the middle of their defense since the offseason began and linebacker Perry Riley Jr. was not re-signed.

Fifth-round draft pick Marquel Lee was the starter at middle linebacker before suffering an ankle injury two weeks ago that kept him out of last weekend’s loss to the Los Angeles Chargers.

Undrafted rookies Nicholas Morrow and Xavier Woodson-Luster are the other two inside linebackers on the roster.

“The work ethic and all that and I think the other part that’s really pretty cool is the kind of tutoring of the younger players at that position,” Del Rio said of Bowman’s influence. “I mean, they’re just soaking it up. When do you lift? How often do you lift? When do you leave? When do you cover this?

New York is an 11.5-point road underdog in Denver at sportsbooks monitored by OddsShark.com. The Giants are 1-3 SU and 0-4 ATS in their last four games against the Broncos.

Entering last Sunday’s game against the Los Angeles Chargers with an 0-4 SU record, the Giants’ season was already in serious jeopardy. But that game took a huge toll as New York lost its top three wide receivers to ankle injuries.

Odell Beckham Jr. and Brandon Marshall will be out for the remainder of the season and Sterling Sharpe will be out indefinitely. For a team whose offensive scheme leans heavily on the passing game, these injuries are devastating.

Coach Anthony Lynn said defensive tackle Corey Liuget aggravated a lingering back issue in a win over the Raiders last week, and that forced him to miss the second half of the game. Liuget was a limited participant Wednesday and hopes to play this weekend. The Chargers allow a league-worst 152.5 yards per contest, so the Bolts can use every healthy body they can get up front to contain the Broncos’ potent running attack. — Eric D. Williams

Did the Raiders miss on another injury-prone cornerback in the first round? Four years after the team drafted D.J. Hayden, Oakland selected Gareon Conley, who missed all of training camp and the exhibition season with a right shin issue. Conley played well in his NFL debut in Week 2 against the Jets but had a setback the next week in Washington and hasn’t suited up since. Coach Jack Del Rio said Conley is dealing with a pain-tolerance issue, and there is no timetable for Conley’s return. — Paul Gutierrez

The legendary 45-year-old winger, who inked a one-year, $ 1 million contract on Oct. 3, is practicing with the team and has traveled on the road trip. Gulutzan has not been definitive about Jagr’s debut date, but it is likely the team will hold off on his first game until Friday’s home game against the Ottawa Senators.

No. 1 seed — Eagles (5-1): First place, NFC East. The Giants just got their first win, and the Cowboys were sub-.500 going into their bye. Philadelphia holds a big early lead and is in position to run away with the division.

No. 2 seed — Vikings (4-2): First place, NFC North. Minnesota jumped Green Bay by winning head-to-head at home in Week 6. It also saw its chances of staying atop the division improve when Aaron Rodgers suffered a broken collarbone in the game.

Goodell said in the same memo he was “very proud of owners and players who have done the hard work over the past year to listen, understand and attempt to address the underlying issues within their communities.”

“You like any player that is willing to step up and speak and then back it up,” Red Sox manager John Farrell said, noting that Ramirez vowed Saturday that the team would not be swept in two straight years. “He had that energy … it was fantastic. He had a big day.”

Houston reliever Lance McCullers took a hard comebacker off his ankle in the fourth, but needed only one warmup pitch to test it and stay in the game.

The side effect is that the competitive element created by positions has been watered down to the point that I pay almost no attention to position eligibility as I draft in standard formats (PG, SG, G, SF, PF, F, C, 3 Util). Granted, positions play a slightly more important role in roto games, where specific stats matter, but in points leagues, where only your all-around statistical production matters, it means next to nothing.

“I love this game, I love this sport, I love my teammates, the fans — I give everything I have,” Roethlisberger said. “If I didn’t care, a game like last Sunday wouldn’t have bothered me. … It ticks me off that I played like that.”

Roethlisberger has one 300-yard passing performance in his past 11 regular-season games, and the Steelers (3-2) haven’t surpassed 26 points all season. The Steelers went 0-for-3 in the red zone Sunday.

Coach Mike Tomlin said Roethlisberger’s Week 5 decision-making could have been better, but “probably wasn’t as catastrophic as the statistics bear out,” citing Roethlisberger getting hit on multiple throws that were intercepted.

There’s precedent with this injury. Rodgers suffered a broken collarbone in 2013. Green Bay was 5-2 going into the game in which he was injured (against Chicago), lost that game, then went 2-5-1 without him using a combination of Seneca Wallace, Scott Tolzien and Matt Flynn. Upon Rodgers’ return, the Packers beat the Bears and won the NFC North with an 8-7-1 record before they lost to the 49ers, led by Kaepernick, in the playoffs.

If Rodgers can come back and the Packers can hang in an ugly division, a similar scenario could unfold this season. That is Green Bay’s best hope until the “season ending” rumor becomes reality.

When NFL owners meet Tuesday in New York, the national anthem will be a prominent item on the agenda.

While there is not expected to be a vote to change the league’s national anthem policy, owners will try to find some middle ground with players who want to protest during the anthem to raise awareness of social issues.

Touchdown. How about those Giants? A 47-yard run by Orleans Darkwa provided the meat of a seven-play, 75-yard drive that ended when Eli Manning found rookie tight end Evan Engram for a 5-yard touchdown on third-and-2. 10-0, Giants

End of first quarter.

Field goal. A solid start for the Giants. After forcing a three-and-out on Denver’s first drive, New York drove deep into Broncos territory before the 69-yard drive stalled. Aldrick Rosas made a 25-yard field goal on the 13th play of the drive to give the Giants an early lead. 3-0, Giants

The Kansas City Chiefs five game win streak to open 2017 was snapped on Sunday afternoon.

Kansas City failed to find any offensive momentum in the first half against the Steelers and its comeback came up just short as Pittsburgh held on for a 19-13 road victory.

The Chiefs found a rhythm offensively in the second half, but registered just one first down and six total yards in the opening 30 minutes. Quarterback Alex Smith threw for 246 yards and a touchdown, while Kareem Hunt totaled 89 yards on five catches for Kansas City.

Le’Veon Bell carried the ball 32 times, tallying 179 rushing yards and a touchdown to lead Pittsburgh to the win. Antonio Brown also added 155 receiving yards and a score.

Broncos quarterback Trevor Siemian was ruled questionable to return with a left shoulder injury.

Davante Adams (3 p.m.): The Packers wideout cleared the league’s concussion protocol on Saturday. He will be active for today’s game against the Cowboys.

Seattle Seahawks (2:45 p.m.): As the Rams go without both Lamarcus Joyner (hamstring) and Maurice Alexander (coach’s decision) today, Russell Wilson and his receivers could have their way with a depleted Los Angeles secondary.

A.J. Green (11:50 a.m.): With the Bills short-handed at cornerback and without CB E.J. Gaines today, expect Green and the rest of the Cincinnati receiving corps to have pretty solid outings in Week 5.

The topic was raised after Vice President Mike Pence left Sunday’s game between the Indianapolis Colts and San Francisco 49ers after more than 20 Niners knelt during the national anthem with their hands over their hearts, as was the case the previous week.

Pence tweeted a statement in which he said he would not dignify any event that disrespects soldiers, the flag or the anthem.

At the Cowboys’ Sept. 25 meeting with the Arizona Cardinals, Jones, his sons Stephen and Jerry Jr. and daughter Charlotte Anderson joined the team’s players, coaches and staff on the field in taking a knee and locking arms prior to the anthem. During the anthem, the Jones family stood arm-in-arm with the players.

In total, Rodgers tallied 221 passing yards and three touchdowns in the game, while running back Aaron Jones added 125 yards on the ground as well as a score.

Tyler Boyd, WR, Cincinnati Bengals: Boyd was quickly declared out of Sunday’s game against the Bills in the first quarter after limping off the field with a knee injury. Boyd was tackled near the sideline while trying to catch a short pass from Andy Dalton.

Leonard Johnson, CB, Buffalo Bills: Slot cornerback Johnson left the game against Cincinnati in the second quarter and was originally deemed questionable to return due to a hamstring injury before being downgraded to out.

“We’ve got to find a way to do a better job on offense, especially in the game,” said Stafford, who led two fourth-quarter touchdown drives that amounted to too little too late.

It’s no longer so early in the season that we can’t draw meaningful conclusions about these teams, yet it’s early enough that “We’ve got to find a way” might be the rallying cry for squads in a jumbled NFC playoff picture.

The Panthers are 4-1. Their only loss was to the Saints, who are 2-2. What does it mean if the Lions, now 3-2 after losing to the Panthers, beat the Saints next Sunday in New Orleans? What does it mean if they don’t? The Lions have got to find a way to win that game, since the Packers keep stacking miracles and sit one game ahead of them at 4-1 in the NFC North. The Vikings might not have to work too hard to find a way to get to 3-2 on Monday night against fresh-faced Mitchell Trubisky in his debut for the Bears.

Mike Persinger, the executive sports editor of the Observer, said Newton’s comments were “unfortunate and out of line.”

“The question Jourdan asked during the news conference was a good one, like countless other questions about football strategy and nuance she has asked in the course of doing her job,” Persinger said.

That missed opportunity came back to haunt them less than a minute later.

“We’ll go back and try to look at different plays throughout the game that could have made a big difference,” Cousins said. “A tough one to lose. Felt like we had a chance there and didn’t get it done.”

The Redskins stunned the Chiefs early when Cousins found Terrelle Pryor over star cornerback Marcus Peters for a 44-yard touchdown pass, then drove to the goal line before settling for a field goal.

But the plucky Chiefs slowly fought their way back into the game.

Smith started to find his athletic tight end down the seam, then hit Kelce with a 17-yard TD strike late in the first half. The two connected again on third down shortly after the break, and Smith scored a few plays later when he fooled the defense with a quarterback-keeper.

Mike Glennon took on his former team in the Buccaneers Sunday and had some pretty good numbers on the stat sheet. He went 31 of 45 for 301 yards and a touchdown, but he also had two interceptions, including one that was returned for a touchdown, and a lost fumble. He also failed to get his team on the board until late in the fourth quarter of the 29-7 victory.

Naturally fans are a little upset about the production on offense, but head coach John Fox has no intention of going to No. 2 overall pick Mitch Trubisky any time soon.

“I thought he made some good throws,” Fox told reporters following the game. “I thought he hung in there, he got hit enough, but I don’t think that loss was all about the quarterback.”

“I sure hope so,” Brady said. “I’ve always watched him and admired him, the way that he’s played he was a great young quarterback. He came to our stadium and beat us and took his team to the Super Bowl.

“He accomplished a lot in the pros as a player. And he’s certainly qualified and I hope he gets a shot.”

Kaepernick, who opted out of his 49ers contract in March, remains a free agent following the backlash last year for kneeling during the national anthem before 49ers games in protest against police brutality and racial injustice, though he said he would not continue the protest this season with a new team.

The NFL Players Association named Kaepernick its “Community MVP” for Week 1 of the NFL season in recognition of his ongoing charitable contributions.

The combine’s fastest man is expected to flash across screens Thursday night when the Bengals take on the Texans.

Cincinnati rookie wide receiver John Ross, who set a record with a 4.22 second 40-yard dash at the combine, is expected to make his NFL regular-season debut, according to multiple reports.

The 2017 draft’s No. 9 overall pick was inactive in Week 1 because of a knee injury sustained in the Bengals’ preseason finale.

DeMarco Murray, Tennessee Titans, hamstring, (Q): Hamstring tightness forced Murray to the bench early in last week’s game and kept him out of practice until Friday, when he returned to limited work. If he does play, there is no way of knowing how well — or how long — Murray can run. His status remains in question up until game day, but ESPN.com’s Cameron Wolfe expects more work from Derrick Henry, even if Murray does take the field.

Melvin Gordon, Los Angeles Chargers, knee, (Q): Gordon was a Thursday addition to the injury report, which often creates concern about a player’s Sunday status, especially when that is followed by another limited practice Friday and a questionable tag. In this case, however, it appears the Chargers are not overly worried about Gordon’s status, instead opting to rest him to some degree on Thursday for the Chargers’ full pad practice after he had some soreness in his knee. On Friday, after practice, coach Anthony Lynn told reporters he does expect Gordon to play. Assuming there is no setback, Gordon should take the field Sunday when the Chargers host the Chiefs.